


Secret (Take You Home)

by SophieAyase



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Ann is an adorable airhead, F/F, Makoto is adorably insecure, Mutual Pining, Press Start, Press Start 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-03 08:51:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15815550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieAyase/pseuds/SophieAyase
Summary: At a study session and a tea party, Ann and Makoto admit to their crushes. But it'll take some outside help for them to put the pieces together.





	Secret (Take You Home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xenoglossy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenoglossy/gifts).



> Prompt: "I feel like this is potentially a good ship for the kind of mutual pining where each assumes the other is out of their league - Ann is a model! She's beautiful and vivacious and so many people must want to date her! vs. Makoto is the class president! She's so smart and responsible and everybody looks up to her!"
> 
> This is... not particularly focused on Makoto and Ann as characters, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

"Gah!" Ann slumped over Leblanc's table.

Ryuji glanced up from his papers. "Math sucks, huh?" he said sympathetically.

"I can't concentrate," Ann moaned.

"Yeah, who can blame ya?"

"I don't mean like that," Ann whined as she raised her head to look at him. "I'm... distracted."

He looked at her blankly. "And?"

She frowned down into her coffee cup. "I like this girl..." She trailed off.

Ren came around the counter with his own coffee. "That's nothing new," he said mildly.

Ann huffed. "It's _different_ this time," she insisted. "I _really_ like her." Her voice practically scaled an octave on the word. "And she's way out of my league." She emptied a sugar packet into her cup and stirred it aimlessly, as Ryuji scoffed.

"Out of your league?" he said skeptically. "What is she, an international supermodel?"

"Noooo," Ann said slowly, clinking her spoon against her mug. "She's super smart..." She ignored Ryuji's snort. "She's, like, the head of her class. She's even student council president..." Ann blinked and bit her lip as she realized what she'd just said.

Ren looked at her calmly, waiting for her to say more. As usual. Ryuji, on the other hand, gaped at her. As usual. "Whoa," he finally said. "Dude, you like Makoto?"

Ann shifted in her seat, trying and failing to make herself comfortable. "I didn't say it was Makoto," she said vaguely.

"Well, _do_ you like her?" Ren asked kindly, gazing over his coffee cup as he sipped from it.

Ann's face contorted through several emotions. "Yes," she muttered at last, a little bitter at having to admit it. She looked back across the table to see the same expressions on the boys' faces. "Oh, don't look so surprised, Ryuji," she snapped. "Don't tell me you've never thought about her that way. _You perv_ ," she added under her breath.

Ryuji tilted his head slightly. "But, like... she's Makoto!"

"I'm aware of that," Ann said sulkily.

"What is it you like about her?" Ren asked, honestly curious.

"Oh, you know..." Ann sipped her coffee to give herself a moment. "She's smart, but she isn't intimidating" – she ignored Ryuji's scoffing – "she's helpful, and she's loyal, and, you know... she's hot!" She paused. "I know. I don't have a chance with her," she sighed.

Ren smiled at her encouragingly. "Why would you think that?"

"Yeah!" Ryuji put in. "She couldn't resist a hottie like you!"

"There's more to it than – hey! Is that all you see me as?!" Ann demanded.

"Hey, you're the one who brought it up!"

"That doesn't mean _you_ can say it!"

As the teenagers argued, none of them saw the cat jump out of an open window.

* * *

 Across Tokyo, Haru was having a very elegant time.

"Do you like your tea, Mako-chan?" she asked, holding her own teacup daintily.

"It's unusual," Makoto said slowly, "but I like it."

"Oh, good!" Haru smiled widely. "Futaba-chan?"

"Tastes like gunpowder," Futaba said. "Sojiro would hate it." She paused. "I think I kinda like it, though."

"I'm glad to hear it," Haru said brightly. The three sat in silence for a moment, sipping their tea, Futaba rocking back and forth in her chair as she tried to pretend she really did like it.

"You know, in France and the rest of Europe, tea parties used to be times when the court would share gossip," Haru said absently.

Makoto smiled lightly. "I don't think we have any courtly gossip to discuss," she replied.

"I know!" Futaba sat up straight, glad for the distraction. Tea sloshed over the edge of her cup onto her fingers, but she ignored it. "We can talk about our crushes. Isn't that what people do at things like this?"

Haru giggled. "I think that's more at sleepovers," she said, "but it sounds like fun. Who do you have a crush on, Futaba-chan?"

Futaba frowned and glanced down at her cup. "I don't have one," she admitted. "I figured you guys would."

Haru smiled. "My only crush is on Haruma Miura," she said. She took a sip of her tea. "How about you, Mako-chan?"

Makoto was blushing madly. "I, er... me neither!" She raised her cup to her mouth and hurriedly took a big sip, spilling it down her chin in the process.

"Oh! Take a napkin." Haru briskly extended a short stack of them to her friend, who pressed them to her face.

"Thank you," Makoto murmured, regaining her composure.

Futaba waited until Makoto's cup was securely in its saucer to pipe up. "So who is it?" she demanded.

"Who?" Makoto feigned ignorance.

"Who do you have a crush on?" Futaba insisted. "Even I can tell you have a crush on somebody."

"W-well..." Makoto's flush spread to the tips of her ear lobes. "I know it'll never really happen."

Haru grinned. "Do you have a crush on a movie star too, Mako-chan?" she teased.

"No," Makoto said thoughtfully. "She's just way too good for me. She's a model, gorgeous... dynamic." She sighed. "Everyone loves her. I'm way too boring to stand a chance." She smiled wanly.

"Aw, Mako-chan." Haru reached out to gently pat Makoto's hand. "I'm sure that's not true."

"Hey!" Futaba cried, startling them both. "A gorgeous model – it's not Ann, is it?"

Makoto's face went pale, her hand cold under Haru's. "You... you _cannot_ tell her!" She was pleading, but with her ever-commanding tone, it almost sounded like a threat.

"Oh, of course not!" Haru cooed, shooting Futaba a warning glance.

Makoto pulled her hand away from Haru and set her cup in its saucer, then stared awkwardly at her hands in her lap. "It's not that obvious, is it?" In spite of her poise, she sounded almost pathetic.

Haru smiled and shook her head. "I would never have known," she said sweetly.

Makoto's eyes narrowed. "Why do I feel like you're just being nice?" she muttered.

None of them saw the cat watching them from outside the window.

* * *

An hour later, Haru sat in her favorite chair and sighed. Tea parties were fun, she thought, but tiring. Even more so when she had to pretend that she believed Futaba-chan liked her tea, or that she hadn't noticed Mako-chan's crush on Ann-chan. She was determined to help Mako-chan, but how? She wasn't even sure if Ann-chan felt the same way. She'd never been as close to her as either was to Mako-chan, after all.

A jingling noise startled her out of her thoughts. She looked down to see Morgana, his tags clinking together. "Mona-chan!" she exclaimed, her usual happiness at seeing him tempered by her exhaustion. Morgana leapt into her lap with a meow.

"Hey... Haru," he murmured as he spun in a circle before lying down. "Lady Ann said something strange today."

He'd gotten her attention. "What's that?" she asked as she reached down to pet him.

"She said – oh, that feels good – she said she likes a girl but doesn't think she has a chance."

"That _is_ odd," Haru said. "Who could she think was out of her league?"

"It's – it's Makoto!" Morgana exclaimed, the shock coming through his voice clearly.

"Oh!" Haru was surprised too, albeit for a different reason. "Well, we... er... Mona-chan, what do you think we should do?"

Morgana sighed and shifted his weight. "I guess we should find out how Makoto feels and go from there."

Haru smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem."


End file.
